6 ms·

I posted this 2 years ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17178031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17178031 The advice I got from Hacker News was re

I posted this 2 years ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17178031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17178031 The advice I got from Hacker News was really useful last time. With the switch to online learning I'm hoping to help out more fellow physics teachers. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

philzook 7y ago
Looks really good!
keyle 7y ago
This is incredible work, well done.
ivan_ah 7y ago
The depth and breadth of topics and examples is amazing. Well done! My only nitpick would be the formatting of some of the equations. Instead of $$ E = hf $$ $$ E = (6.626 \times 10^{-34})(10^{9}) $$ $$ E = 6.626 \times 10^{-25} \, \mathrm{J}$$ I think it would be clearer to use $$\begin{aligned} E &= hf \\ &= (6.626 \times 10^{-34})(10^{9}) \\ &= 6.626 \times 10^{-25} \, \mathrm{J} \end{aligned}$$ which is the KaTeX-recommended approach for emulating \begin{align} ... \end{align}. I would also throw in a word or two of explanations in there, so it's not just equations, e.g., explain "Using the formula for the energy of a photon, we find: <eqns>". I guess it would end up being more work for you, but would be worth it for the benefit of students learning that it's not just about the numbers, but knowing what you're doing (like you do in the strategy sections). On the other hand the current format of line-by-line-show-only-the-equation-steps is very practical too --- from my experience certain students prefer to see just the practical steps they have to do on the exam, rather than the blah blha blah around them, even if it can be educational. It would be interesting to see some of the questions/examples converted into self-test quizzes. Show a few examples, then ask readers to solve some problems on their own. I know the idea is they will try to solve on their own an only reveal the solution after they've tried, but realistically speaking more likely they will click that arrow ;) So maybe just a delay to force them to try? This is getting into the realm of the fancy, but you could maybe make the reading with a "customizable difficulty level." Beginner = info (maybe hides certain more advanced topics), all questions solved as examples. Intermediate = some questions solved as examples, but missing final steps so reader has to complete them to get the final answer. Advanced = most examples show as quiz questions reader has to solve on their own...
- lilgreenland 7y ago
  thanks for the ideas Originally, I tried aligning the equations to the equal signs, but it increased the display width by about 30%. So, I had to choose from aligning the equal signs or a 30% font size. It still annoys me to see it centered, but half my traffic is from mobile. More explanations is a good idea. I think putting quizzes for students would work well for multiple choice questions. Numerical entry might be a bit more work. I'd have to get a library that evaluates strings into floats.
stared 7y ago
First and foremost - it is awesome! Though, when I tried to share it on social media, but the title is not too descriptive ("Physics notes") and there is no cover picture.
- lilgreenland 7y ago
  Thanks for the heads up. I don't use any social media (except hacker news and reddit). So I didn't know what that experience was like. If any front end developer knows what meta tags are best for this I'd love the help.
  - stared 7y ago
    I sent a PR.

philzook 7y ago

Looks really good!

keyle 7y ago

This is incredible work, well done.

ivan_ah 7y ago

The depth and breadth of topics and examples is amazing. Well done! My only nitpick would be the formatting of some of the equations. Instead of $$ E = hf $$ $$ E = (6.626 \times 10^{-34})(10^{9}) $$ $$ E = 6.626 \times 10^{-25} \, \mathrm{J}$$ I think it would be clearer to use $$\begin{aligned} E &= hf \\ &= (6.626 \times 10^{-34})(10^{9}) \\ &= 6.626 \times 10^{-25} \, \mathrm{J} \end{aligned}$$ which is the KaTeX-recommended approach for emulating \begin{align} ... \end{align}. I would also throw in a word or two of explanations in there, so it's not just equations, e.g., explain "Using the formula for the energy of a photon, we find: <eqns>". I guess it would end up being more work for you, but would be worth it for the benefit of students learning that it's not just about the numbers, but knowing what you're doing (like you do in the strategy sections). On the other hand the current format of line-by-line-show-only-the-equation-steps is very practical too --- from my experience certain students prefer to see just the practical steps they have to do on the exam, rather than the blah blha blah around them, even if it can be educational. It would be interesting to see some of the questions/examples converted into self-test quizzes. Show a few examples, then ask readers to solve some problems on their own. I know the idea is they will try to solve on their own an only reveal the solution after they've tried, but realistically speaking more likely they will click that arrow ;) So maybe just a delay to force them to try? This is getting into the realm of the fancy, but you could maybe make the reading with a "customizable difficulty level." Beginner = info (maybe hides certain more advanced topics), all questions solved as examples. Intermediate = some questions solved as examples, but missing final steps so reader has to complete them to get the final answer. Advanced = most examples show as quiz questions reader has to solve on their own...

lilgreenland 7y ago
thanks for the ideas Originally, I tried aligning the equations to the equal signs, but it increased the display width by about 30%. So, I had to choose from aligning the equal signs or a 30% font size. It still annoys me to see it centered, but half my traffic is from mobile. More explanations is a good idea. I think putting quizzes for students would work well for multiple choice questions. Numerical entry might be a bit more work. I'd have to get a library that evaluates strings into floats.

stared 7y ago

First and foremost - it is awesome! Though, when I tried to share it on social media, but the title is not too descriptive ("Physics notes") and there is no cover picture.

lilgreenland 7y ago
Thanks for the heads up. I don't use any social media (except hacker news and reddit). So I didn't know what that experience was like. If any front end developer knows what meta tags are best for this I'd love the help.
- stared 7y ago
  I sent a PR.